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To see ourselves: The rhetorical construction of an ideal citizenry in the perorations of twentieth-century budget speeches

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British Politics Aims and scope

Abstract

For classical writers the peroration represented a recapitulation of the arguments that had been deployed in a speech, but was also considered the part which sought to engage the emotions of the audience. In their use of pathos, perorations are therefore particularly revealing. This article considers how they have been used by Chancellors, who have employed the collective concepts of ‘country’, ‘nation’ and ‘people’ to rouse, exhort, persuade, console, applaud, and inspire their audiences through the rhetorical construction of an ideal British citizenry.

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  1. College of Arts and Humanities, Swansea University, Swansea, UK

    Noel Thompson

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  1. Noel Thompson
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Correspondence to Noel Thompson.

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Thompson, N. To see ourselves: The rhetorical construction of an ideal citizenry in the perorations of twentieth-century budget speeches. Br Polit 12, 90–114 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41293-016-0025-5

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